Slave labor, oblivious expats, environmental collapse. Is this the real Dubai?
Slow to the punch, I was recently directed to an article from The Independent published in April of this year: The dark side of Dubai.
It’s the story of a failed experiment in city/utopia building, where the global economic crisis has emptied malls and hotels and halted nearly all construction — this in a city that gave rise to the oft-repeated (and oft-debunked) factoid that it employees a quarter of the world’s construction cranes.
According to the article, Dubai has failed not only economically, but also socially. Emiratis (who make up just 5% of the population) are educated up to the PhD level at no cost, while armies of impoverished foreign laborers live in bondage and lack clean drinking water. Anyone who raises a critical voice is deported (expats), financially ruined (Emiratis), or imprisoned (foreign workers).
Jaw Dropped
It’s a shocking account. And it’s almost too much to believe.
I’ll admit my immediate reaction leaned toward skepticism. Part of it is that — to me — Johann Hari’s writing comes off scripted, the neatly framed and overly witty words of someone who knew what he wanted to write before he stepped off the plane.
And part of it is that I simply hope the picture he paints isn’t accurate.
* A slave labor system where South Asian construction workers and East African housekeepers are lured to Dubai by third-party recruiters, only to have their passports confiscated, promised wages halved or withheld, and every waking hour conscripted.
* A body of expats that delight in the hedonism the socioeconomic order allows them, living with a constant buzz on and complaining that there are too many Indians throwing themselves in front of their SUVs in a last-ditch effort to escape the system.
* An ocean — Dubai’s biggest tourist draw — darkened with raw sewage as the delicate, super-arid environment begins to collapse under the weight of forced modernity.
Please tell me these caricatures were lifted from some sci-fi dystopia, not the streets of reality.
Speak Up
Matador Abroad’s Tim Patterson already put out a call for on-the-ground voices from Dubai. I’d like to renew that invitation — though, if The Independent’s article is any indication, those voices will probably need to be “recently-left-the-ground.”
Have you traveled to or lived in Dubai? How does your experience square with The Independent’s exposé of the city’s “dark side“?
Speak up in the comments, or email me directly at hal[at]matadornetwork[dot]com to discuss telling your story in a Trips feature.
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13 Comments... join the discussion!
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This is sweet, Daniel. Thanks for confirming the story with your eyewitness account.
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I had no idea. That’s terrible!
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Wow. I had no idea as well. This is horrible.
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Hal-
Thanks for this piece. I’ve never been there, but there was an excellent long feature in the NYT Magazine about a year ago about this very issue, focusing primarily on the immigrant workers. Reports of passport seizure were rampant, according to the author, as were slave labor wages, no benefits (of course), and what seemed like the impossibility of returning home.
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I first heard of these stories a couple years ago and now they slowly seem to be getting more frequent. How long is it going to be before this is no longer accepted and someone is held accountable?
I know I certainly won’t be supporting Dubai by spending my money there…
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It’s true – check out my video ‘I Dubai Declare’ on YouTube to get a peak into what I saw there.
I Dubai Declare
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXNrxP3thdE↵ -
Recently watched a video about a photographer documenting the trafficking of women in Dubai. At the end of her stay, her hotel room is ransacked and most of her film and footage stolen. Her videographer manages to sneak out some tapes (since they are stopped when leaving the country).
Of course, now I can’t find that link, but I’ll ask my friend to resend it to me if anyone’s interested.
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For sure, Linda. These video responses are solid.
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http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2007/09/dubai_sex_for_s.html
It’s about 10 minutes long. I have a hard time committing to anything longer than about 2:44, but this was interesting.
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A cuople a weeks ago i’ve seen a ducumentary on this subject, and i have one thing to say; I will never go to Dubai!!!!. Its sad that even in “modern times” this things still happening in the world, yet we all know about it, but still what can we “ordinary” people do to prevent or to stop it.
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Further reason for me not to go to Dubai. I don’t really want to go to a nation with a police force that put a man in jail for having traces of poppyseeds from a bun eaten in London:
http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/06/30/10-extreme-cases-of-travelers-imprisoned-abroad/
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I’m glad that someone is spreading the word about this horrible situation. I lived in Abu Dhabi for nine months and I read the Independant article about halfway through my stay. even though ive only been to dubai a few times, it is the same all over the UAE. and it is easily seen in every day life there, half of dubai is still under construction, masses of workers are seen crammed on to buses with no air conditioning at the change of shift, to drive out into the heat of the desert suburbs that gets up to 45 or 50 degrees celcius in the summer.
workers are imported from all over the world, and fit into a type of caste system with rich arabs at the top, then westerners in buisness and engineering , then the predominantly asian population of service workers. and of course the local emirati’s are not subject to their own laws because they are the kings of the land.
another thing is that you can be arrested, fined, and deported for being publicly intoxicated or for showing any signs of public affection. there are many things outlawed by Islamic standards in this country and if you are challenged by a local then they will always be right.
Dubai is trying to lure tourists with its grandiose industry and unique hotels but who would want to travel to a city where you risk getting arrested for something that is a normal part of nightlife in most cities around the world.
everyone goes to work there for the high paycheck and just suffers through this strict environment, but its not worth it. and we should absolutely not support tourism in the UAE.
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